•15 



f5fc'*7i 



HISTORY 



OF THE 



FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON, 

1630— 1880. 

By ARTHUR B. ELLIS. 



SEit!) a ^Preface, 
By GEORGE E. ELLIS. 




BOSTON: 

HALL AND WHITING. 

1880. 



/I 






Copyright^ 1880, 
By Arthur B. Ellis. 



University Press : 
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge. 



BOSTON, November 10, 1880. 

It is proposed to publish a History of the First 
Ohurch of Boston, from its formation to the present 
time, including an account of the building of the house 
of worship now occupied by it, and of the proceedings 
in ccmmemoration of its 250th Anniversary. 

The work has been prepared by Arthur B. Ellis, 
Esq., and will have an Introduction by George E. Ellis. 

The volume will be of between four and fve hundred 
pages, in the style of this, its frst chapter 

Its price will be between three and fve dollars a 
copy, depending upon the number of copies subscribed 
for 

Early subscriptions are solicited. 

Messrs. Hall & Whiting, 

PUBLISHER-, 
32 BROM FIELD STREET. 



HISTORY 

OF THE 

FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON, 
1 630-1 880. 



" And if any tax me for wasting paper with recording 

these small matters, such may consider that little mothers bring 

forth little children, small commonwealths matters of small 

moment, the reading whereof yet is not to be despised by the 

judicious ; because small things, in the beginning of natural 

or politic bodies, are as remarkable as greater in bodies 

full-grown." 

Gov. Dudley's Letter to the Countess of Lincoln. 



HISTORY 



FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON. 



CHAPTER I. 

1630-1632. 

JOHN WILSON. 

Origin and Foundation of First Church in Boston. — Wor- 
ship, Discipline, and Government. 

' I ^HE history of First Church in Boston begins 
with the occupation of Charlestown by the 
EngHsh colonists under Winthrop. It was there 
that the founders of our church signed the covenant 
and became a body of worshippers. The Arbella, 
the vessel in which they crossed the ocean, put into 
Salem harbor the 12th day of June, 1630, and 
"went to Mattachusetts " the 17th of the month. 
After exploring the latter neighborhood, she returned 
to Salem the next day but one, and, joined by the 
rest of the fleet, again set sail, and came to anchor 
in Charlton harbor, as Winthrop calls it, early in 
July. They found that other Englishmen had 
visited the spot before them. The Sprague broth- 
ers, Ralph, Richard, and William, together with 
others, had made their way to the place, through 



2 FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON. [1630-32. 

the woods, from Salem, two years before, in the 
summer of 1628. At that time the town records de- 
scribe it as " a neck of land, generally full of stately 
timber, and the country round about an uncouth 
wilderness." But the Spragues found that they 
too had been preceded by one Thomas Walford, 
a smith, who with his family was the first white 
settler in the place. In the year previous to Win- 
throp's arrival, in June, 1629, one Thomas Graves, 
an experienced engineer, came from Salem, and 
built a house called the Great House. This was a 
two-storied wooden block structure, the lower part 
used for storage purposes, and the upper story for 
civil, and if the weather was so unpleasant as to 
prevent worship out of doors, for religious, meet- 
ings. 

Our pioneers came poorly prepared to contend 
with the hardships of their new situation. They had 
brought over small provision with them, trusting to 
a report that they would find plenty on their arrival 
in the new country; and what they had was badly 
damaged by the voyage. Their means of shelter 
were poor, and the long confinement on shipboard 
had made many of them diseased. " And although 
the people were loving and pitiful," says the old 
record, " yet the sickness did so prevail, that the 
whole were not able to tend the sick as they should 
be tended, upon which many perished and died and 
were buried about the Town Hill." To meet the 
scarcity of provisions, the Governor despatched 



1630-32.] JOHN WILSON. 3 

Captain Pearce to the coast of Ireland in quest of a 
fresh supply. It must have been that that country- 
was thought to be nearer than any other, otherwise 
there would seem to be some reason for thinkinof 
with Cotton Mather, that perhaps there were other 
places more overflowing with milk and honey, to 
which it would have been wiser to send. However 
as afterwards appears, the errand proved fruitful of 
success. 

In spite of these adversities — we might rather 
say because of them — the people hurried on the 
organization of the church. The 30th of July was 
set apart as a day of fasting and prayer, and after 
appropriate religious exercises, Governor Winthrop, 
Deputy-Governor Dudley, Mr. Isaac Johnson, and 
Mr. John Wilson subscribed the following church 
covenant, the same which is continued with us to- 
day : — 

•'* In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, & in Obedience 
to His holy will & Divine Ordinaunce. 

" Wee whose names are herevnder written, being by His 
most wise, & good Providence brought together into this 
part of America in the Bay of Masachusetts, & desirous 
to vnite ourselves into one Congregation, or Church, vnder 
the Lord Jesus Christ our Head, in such sort as becometh 
all those whom He hath Redeemed, & Sanctifyed to Him- 
selfe, do hereby solemnly, & religiously (as in His most holy 
Proesence) Promisse, & bind o'selves, to walke in all our 
wayes according to the Rule of the Gospell, & in all sin- 
cere Conformity to His holy Ordinaunces, & in mutuall 
love, & respect each to other, so neere as God shall give 
vs grace." 



4 FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON. [1630-32. 

Of the first four signers of this covenant it is un- 
necessary to say much. Their history is bound up 
with that of the Commonwealth. John Winthrop, 
the first Governor, and the first who signed the 
church covenant, was of good family and possessed 
of what was then regarded as a large estate, amount- 
ing to six or seven hundred pounds a year. He 
was bred a lawyer, and was some forty-three years of 
age when he came from England. Thomas Dudley 
was first Deputy-Governor, and afterwards for four 
years Governor of the colony. He was bred a sol- 
dier, and served under Queen Elizabeth in the wars 
with France. He was fifty-three years of age when 
he came to this country. Isaac Johnson was a gen- 
tleman by birth and of fortune, and had married a 
daughter of the Earl of Lincoln. The sad death 
of the Lady Arbella, followed shortly after by that 
of her grief-stricken husband,^ was the first shadow 
which spread a gloom over the colony. 

The Rev. John Wilson, the first pastor of the 
church, was born and bred in clerical atmosphere, 
and, had it not been for his non-conformity, would 
doubtless have held some high position in the 
Church of England, as did his immediate ancestors. 
But, like other strong and scrupulous characters of 
the period, he preferred a life in the wilderness to 
the enjoyment of clerical preferment at the sacrifice 

^ September 30, 1630, about one month after his wife. " He was a holy 
man, and wise ; and died in sweet peace, leaving some part of his substance 
to the colony." — Winthrop's yoiirnal. 



1630-32.] JOHN WILSON. 5 

of his religious convictions. He shares the epi- 
thet, affixed by Cotton Mather to the first four min- 
isters of our church, of "Johannes in eremo." Of 
his immediate ancestors, his grandfather, " WilHam 
Wilson late of Wellsbourne in the co. of Lincoln, 
Gentleman, departed this life within the Castle of 
Windsor in the yeare of our Lord 1587 the 27 Day 
of August and lyeth buried in this place." (Tomb- 
stone in the chapel of Windsor Castle.) Wells- 
bourne is not far from Lincoln and Boston, and this 
fact indicates some special tie among the early set- 
tlers who came from Lincolnshire. 

His father, William Wilson, D.D., of Merton Col- 
lege, Oxford, Prebendary of Rochester, Rector of 
Cliffe, Chancellor of St. Paul's, and Canon of his 
King's Majesty's free chapel of St. George, within 
his castle of Windsor, where he lies buried, died 
May 15, 16 1 5, aged seventy-three years. 

John Wilson,' our minister, was born at Windsor 
in 1588. His mother was Isabel Woodhal, niece of 
Edmund Grindal, the celebrated Puritan Archbishop 
of Canterbury. He was educated at Eton and 
King's College, Cambridge, and married Elizabeth, 
daughter of Sir John Mansfield. He was the fourth 
sicrner of the covenant, pastor of the church for 
thirty-seven years, and died the 7th day of August, 
1667, aged seventy-eight years. 

1 His life is described in a later chapter. This little sketch of his family 
and antecedents was partly furnished by Mr. Thomas Minns, a descendant 
of Wilson. 



6 FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON. [1630-32. 

Dr. Edmund Wilson, brother of Rev. John Wilson, 
died in England soon after the arrival in this coun- 
try, leaving ^1000 to the infant colony.^ 

Mrs. Wilson, the pastor's wife, died June 6, 1660. 

" On the I St of August, Increase Nowell and four 
others united with the church and signed the cove- 
nant, .and soon the number amounted to sixty-four 
men and half as many women." 

From the very start religion was uppermost in the 
minds of the colonists. Religion planted the colony. 
When the first General Court was held on the 23d 
of August, before any measures had been taken to 
provide for support or shelter, the first topic of dis- 
cussion was, " How shall the ministers be main- 
tained ? " And it was ordered that houses be built 
for them with convenient speed at the public charge, 
and salaries provided at ^30 for Mr. Phillips of 
Watertown, and £10 for Mr. Wilson of Boston till 
his wife come over. Sir Richard Saltonstall under- 
took to see the former part of this order carried 
out for Mr. Phillips, and the Governor for Mr. 
Wilson. 

" On the 27th of August another fast was ob- 
served, and the church duly organized by the appoint- 
ment of the proper officers." The list of regularly 
appointed church officers at this date included pas- 
tors, teachers, ruling elders, deacons, and sometimes 

1 Mr. Wilson made a second and last voyage to England in 1634, partly 
to secure this legacy; and returned in 1635, '^^^'^ time with his wife and 
family. His first voyage in 1631 was unsuccessful in the special object 
sought for. See infra, 9. 



1630-32.] JOHN WILSON. 7 

deaconesses or widows. The functions of the widows, 
as laid down by a quaint writer, were "to show mercie 
with chearfuhiesse and to minister to the sick and 
poore brethren." In another place the writer adds, 
" No church there [meaning Boston] hath a widow 
as far as I know ; " an observation which we must be 
careful not to construe too literally. The distinc- 
tion between pastor and teacher is somewhat nice.i 
The same writer says: " It is the duty of the pastor 
to exhort and besides to rule ; the teacher to instruct 
in knowledo-e and likewise to rule." The elders were 
the Levites, or governing officers of the church, and 
the deacons performed the same duties as they do 
to-day, viz. received the contributions and accounted 
for the same. 

The following were duly qualified : John Wilson 
as teacher; Increase Nowell, ruHng elder; William 
Gao-er and William Aspinwall, deacons. Gager 
died September 20, 1630, a few days after his 
appointment. In the case of Mr. Wilson it was 
expressly understood that the ceremony should 
have no effect on his previous ordination by the 
bishop in England. 

1 Palfrey, in his chapter on " Primitive Institutions and Customs of New 
England," says : " A church fully furnished had a pastor and a teacher whose 
duty it was to preach and administer the ordinances, the distinctive function 
of the former being private and public exhortation, of the latter doctrinal 
and scriptural explanation." The reading of the Bible, or dumb reading, as 
it was called, was not generally approved, but thought to be too much in 
conformity with the Church of England practice, hence one of the functions 
of the teacher, viz. scriptural explanation or expounding, as it was called. 
— History of New England, ed. iS6o, Vol. II. 37, 42. See also " History of 
Second Church in Boston," note to 22. 



8 FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON. [1630-32. 

We now find the church fairly organized, the 
minister provided for, and nothing wanting but 
a place of worship. " The first meeting-place of 
the congregation was in the umbrage of a large 
tree." 

In the month of August many of the colonists 
removed across the river to Boston ; and soon a 
majority of the inhabitants of Charlestown, includ- 
ing the Governor, had made the change. " The 
principal cause which led to this removal was the 
want of running springs of water. The notion pre- 
vailed that no water was good for a town but run- 
ning springs ; and they were at that time acquainted 
with but one spring in Charlestown," which was on 
the margin of the river, in the sand, and when the 
tide was high could not be come at, and at other 
times was very brackish. Mr. William Blaxton, the 
first white inhabitant of Boston, first called the 
attention of the Governor to the existence of a pure 
spring of water on his side of the river. This in- 
formation, combined with the increasing sickness, 
induced the Governor to make the change. From 
this period up to the time of separation, the people 
of Charlestown were obliged to cross the river to 
attend meetings, — an operation, in the winter time at 
least, involvinor much hazard. Provisions had now 
become very scarce, and had it not been for the 
timely arrival of Captain Pearce with an abundant 
supply, they would have had hard work to keep 
alive. 



1630-32.] JOHN WILSON. 9 

" The people were compelled to live upon clams and 
muscles, ground nuts and acorns, and these were obtained 
with much difficulty in the winter time, and upon these 
accounts they became much tired and discouraged, espe- 
cially when they heard that the Governor had his last batch 
of bread in the oven. And many were the fears of the peo- 
ple that Mr. Pearce, who was sent to Ireland to fetch pro- 
visions, was cast away or taken by pirates ; but God, who 
delights to appear in greatest straits, did work marvellously 
at this time, for before the very day appointed to seek the 
Lord by fasting and prayer, about the month of February 
or March, in comes Mr. Pearce, laden with provisions; 
upon which occasion the day of fast was changed and 
ordered to be kept as a day of thanksgiving." 

This was on the 2 2d of February (O.S.)/ The 
provisions were distributed among the people in 
proportion to their necessities. To show what a 
good face they kept under all their trials, we are 
told of a man, "inviting his Friends to a dish of 
Clams, at the Table gave thanks to Heaven, who 
had given them to suck the abundance of the Seas, 
and of the Treasures hid in the Sands." 

In March, 1631, Mr. Wilson went to England 
to bring his wife. Before embarking, "Mr. Cod- 
dington [afterwards for many years Governor of 
Rhode Island] and Mr. Wilson, and divers of the 
congregation, met at the Governor's, and there Mr. 
Wilson, praying and exhorting the congregation to 

1 In quotinjr from old records no attempt has been made to alter the date 
from Old to New Style. The simple process of adjustment is this : " To change 
from Old to New, add ten days to any date from 1600 to 1700, and eleven 
days to a date from 1700 to September 14, 1752- 



lO FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON. [1630-32. 

love, etc., commended to them the exercise of proph- 
ecy In his absence, and designed those whom he 
thought most fit to it, viz. the Governor, Mr. Dud- 
ley, and Mr. Nowell the elder. Then he desired the 
Governor to commend himself and the rest to God 
by prayer; which being done, they accompanied 
him to the boat ; and so they went over to Charles- 
town, to go by land to the ship. This ship set sail 
from Salem April i, and arrived at London (all 
safe), April 29." The apostle Eliot filled the va- 
cancy caused by the absence of Mr. Wilson. The 
famous Roger Williams lays claim to the first invi- 
tation to fill this post. The statement, however, 
rests on his own assertion, and we find no corrob- 
oration of it on the church records or elsewhere. 
The reason he gives for declining the honor is per- 
haps worth noticing, as coming from a man so noted 
for his liberality in religion ; he says it was be- 
cause they (members of First Church) would not 
humble themselves for having held communion 
with the Church of England. 

Mr. Wilson took with him to England a letter 
from Deputy-Governor Dudley to the Countess of 
Lincoln, — one of the most authentic documents 
touching upon this early period.^ The date of it is 
March 12, 1630. It contains a very minute account 
of the condition of the colony. It begins: — 

" For the satisfaction of your Honor and some friends, 
and for the use of such as shall hereafter intend to increase 

1 Young's Chronicles of Massachusetts, 304. 



1630-32.] JOHN WILSON. II 

our Plantation in New-England, I have, in the throng of 
domestic, and not altogether free from public, business, 
thought fit to commit to memory our present condition, 
and what hath befallen us since our arrival here ; which I 
will do shortly, after my usual manner, and must do rudely, 
having yet no table, nor other room to write in than by 
the fireside, upon my knee, in this sharp winter ; to which 
my family must have leave to resort, though they break 
good manners and make me many times forget what I 
would say, and say what I would not." 

He then proceeds to give an account of the hard- 
ships they endure: — 

" The ships being gone, victuals wasting, and mortality 
inci easing, we held divers fasts in our several congrega- 
tions. But the Lord would not yet be deprecated ; for 
about the beginning of September died Mr. Gager, a right 
godly man, a skilful chirurgeon, and one of the deacons of 
our congregation, Mr. Johnson, one of the five undertakers 
(the Lady Arbella, his wife, being dead a month before). 
This gentleman was a prime man amongst us, having the 
best estate of any, zealous for religion, and the greatest 
furtherer of this plantation." 

And then, towards the close, he says : — 

" But now, having some leisure to discourse of the mo- 
tives for other men's coming to this place, or their abstain- 
ing from it, after my brief manner, I say this, that if any 
come hither to plant for worldly ends, that can live well at 
home, he commits an error, of which he will soon repent 
him ; but if for spiritual, and that no particular obstacles 
hinder his removal, he may find here what may well con- 
tent him, viz. materials to build, fuel to burn, ground to 
plant, seas and rivers to fish in, a pure air to breathe in, 
good water to drink, till wine or beer can be made, which, 



12 FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON. [1630-32. 

together with the cows, hogs, and goats brought hither 
already, may suffice for food ; for as for fowl and venison, 
they are dainties here as well as in England. For clothes 
and bedding they must bring them with them, till time and 
industry produce them here. In a word, we yet enjoy 
little to be envied, but endure much to be pitied, in the 
sickness and mortality of our people. ... If any godly 
men, out of religious ends, will come over to help us in the 
good work we are about, I think they cannot dispose of 
themselves nor of their estates more to God's glory and 
the furtherance of their own reckoning. But they must 
not be of the poorer sort yet, for divers years ; for we have 
found by experience that they have hindered, not fur- 
thered the work. And for profane and debauched persons, 
their oversight in coming hither is wondered at, where 
they shall find nothing to content them. If there be any 
endued with grace, and furnished with means to feed them- 
selves and theirs for eighteen months, and to build and 
plant, let them come over into our Macedonia and help us, 
and not spend themselves and their estates in a less profit- 
able employment. For others, I conceive, they are not 
yet fitted for this business." ^ 

Soon after Mr. Wilson's return from England, 
which took place on the 26th of May, some time in 

' " 1631, July 21. The governor, deputy-governor, and Mr. Nowell, the 
elder of the congregation at Boston, go to Watertown, to confer with Mr. 
Phillips the pastor and Mr. Brown the elder of the congregation there 
about an opinion they had published, that the churches of Rome were true 
churches ; the matter is debated before many of both congregations, and by 
the apjjrobation of all the assembly, except three, is concluded an error." — 
Prince's Annals of N'ew England, 358. 

" 1632, July 3. The congregation (i.e. the church) at Boston, wrote to 
the elders and brethren of the churches of Plymouth, Salem, etc., for their 
advice in three questions : First, whether one person might be a civil mag- 
istrate and a ruling elder at the same time ? Second, if not, then which 
should he lay down ? Third, whether there might be divers pastors in the 
same church ? The first was agreed by all negatively, the second and third 
doubtful ." — Ibid. -ioS. 



1630-32.] JOHN WILSON. 13 

the month of August, 1632, the congregation of Bos- 
ton and Charlestown began to build the first meet- 
ing-house. The situation chosen was on the south 
side of State Street, in Boston, where Brazer s Build- 
ing now stands.^ The walls were of stone, plastered 
with clay, and the roof thatched. This building, 
together with a parsonage^ erected at the same time 
on what was formerly known as Wilson's Lane, in 
the immediate neighborhood of the church, was 
provided for by contributions amounting in all to 
£120. The winter, which was now setting in, 
proved so severe that passage over the river was 
often impracticable. This, no doubt, hastened the 
inevitable separation. The church in Charlestown 
became a distinct body on the 2d of November, 
1632, withdrawing from the parent church about one 
fourth of the congregation. " Those of the church 
who stayed behind still retained their relation to the 
[old church] until October, 1632 ; when those mem- 
bers desiring a dismission from the congregation, 
to enter into a new church-body at Charlestown, 
and having first sought solemnly unto God, with 
the rest of the church, for direction herein, they 
were accordingly dismissed upon the 14th day of 
the said month." ^ 

1 " A plan of the church lot as existing at this time, but as made out by 
Francis Jackson of late years, is in the library of the New England Histor- 
ical and Genealogical Society. See the Register, April, i860, 152." — Memo- 
rial History of Boston (1880), Vol. I. 119, note. 

'•^ "Wilson lived where the Merchants' Bank now stands." — Memorial 
History of Boston (1880), Vol. I. 119, note. 

* " 1632, November 2 (Friday). Mr, Increase Nowell, Mr. Thomas James, 
and other Church members at Charlestown, who had been dismissed from the 



14 FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON. [1630-32. 

" And now upon this separation," says Foxcroft, 
in his centennial sermon in 1730, " I find the num- 
ber of males in the church of Boston (after nigh 
two years' continuance here, in which time, doubt- 
less, additions were made to it) amounted but to 
about seventy or eighty, the body of the inhabitants." 
Endeavors were at this time made to obtain the 
apostle Eliot for teacher, and there is very good rea- 
son to suppose that he would have accepted, had he 
not felt bound by an agreement made on the pas- 
sage over from England to settle in Roxbury.^ 

The 2 2d of November was solemnized as a fast, 
on which Mr. Wilson, hitherto the teacher, was or- 
dained the pastor of the church. At the same time 
Mr. Oliver was chosen ruling elder, and two dea- 
cons were elected ; on all of whom hands were 
imposed as a token of designation. 

We have now witnessed the transplanting of the 
church from Charlestown to Boston, — the little seed 
out of which grew up such an abundant harvest. 
We find the congregation somewhat diminished, it 
is true, but from no internal causes. That harmony 
of thought and purpose of which Foxcroft speaks so 

church at Boston, now embody into a (new) distinct Congregational Church, 
enter into covenant ; and (the said) Mr. James is elected and ordained their 
pastor." — Prince's A;nia/s of A^ew England, 407. 

1 " Mr. John Eliot, a member of Boston congregation, and one whom the 
congregation intended presently to call to the office of teacher, was called to 
be a teacher to the church at Roxbury ; and though Boston laboured all they 
could, both with the congregation of Roxbury, and with Mr. Eliot himself, 
alleging their want of him, and the covenant between them, &c., yet he could 
not be diverted from accepting the call of Roxbury, November 5. So he was 
dismissed." — Winthrop's Journal, Vol. I. 93. 



1630-32] JOHN WILSON. 15 

glowingly in 1730 was to remain unbroken for nearly 
two centuries. It was not till after the dawn of the 
nineteenth century that the ties were to be broken. 

Our congregation, small as it was, constituted the 
bulk of the population of Boston. The influence 
which it had on the government of the colony may 
Avell be imao;ined when we consider that no one was 
a freeman until he became a member of a church;^ 
that the minister was always consulted by the Gov- 
ernor in any important emergency, and very often 
his decision settled the matter entirely. 

The growth of our church, from the foundation 
down to the present time, and the various changes 
which have taken place in the sentiments of the 
worshippers, during a period of two centuries and a 
half, open up another field of inquiry more prop- 
erly included in a later period of our church his- 
tory. All that concerns us in this connection is 
simply to hint at the origin and foundation of this 
church. 

Who that reflects for one moment on the manner 
of this planting will feel the least surprised at the 
result } But will he not have reason to be proud of 
that result ? Built on a sure foundation, the ark of 
the Lord has continued during the space of two 
centuries and a half The same covenant, the same 

1 " We must be careful to bear in mind, however, that when this provis- 
ion was passed, viz. in May, 1631, Massachusetts was a little community' of 
traders, having no semblance to a state," so that the hardship of the depri- 
vation did not count for much till the latter condition was realized. — Dex- 
TEr's Congregationalism of the last Three Hundred Years, etc., 420 et seq. 



l6 FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON. [1630-32. 

principles of purity and liberty which our fathers 
established, have come down to us from generation 
to generation, shedding their blessings not only on 
our own body of worshippers, but on the whole 
community. Well may such an influence be called 
one of the "distinguishing glories of New Eng- 
land "' 

And now, before we close this sketch, let us take 
a glance at the mode of church worship and gov- 
ernment peculiar to the Puritans. The order of 
worship was common to all the churches, with per- 
haps some slight variations. That of Boston Church 
is thus described . " Every Sabbath or Lord's day, 
they come together at Boston by wringing of a belV 
about nine of the clock or before. The Pastor be- 
gins with solemn prayer continuing about a quarter of 
an houre. The Teacher then readeth and expound- 
eth a chapter; then a Psalme is sung, which ever one 
of the ruling Elders dictates. After that the Pastor 
preacheth a sermon, and sometimes extempore ex- 
horts. Then the Teacher concludes with prayer 
and a blessing." Once a month they observed the 
Lord's Supper, of which notice was given a fortnight 
in advance. The ministers and ruling elders sat at 
the table, the rest in their seats or upon forms. The 
afternoon service began at two o'clock. The pastor 

^ At first by beat of the drum. For an account of the various ways (at 
first of necessity) resorted to for summoning people to the meeting, e. g. by 
blowing a shell or horn, and raising a flag, — methods resorted to as late 
as the middle of the last century, — see an interesting note to Baxter's Con- 
gregationalism, 452. 



1630-32.] JOHN WILSON. 17 

began as before noon ; a psalm was sung, and the 
teacher preached his sermon. After and before the 
sermon was a prayer. Then followed baptism, if 
there was any. After this ceremony a contribution 
was taken up ; one of the deacons saying, " Brethren 
of the congregation, now there is time left for con- 
tribution, wherefore as God hath prospered you, so 
freely offer." The magistrates and chief gentlemen 
then passed up, followed by the elders, and after 
them the rest of the congregation, one by one, all 
the men and all single persons, widows, and women 
in absence of their husbands, and deposited their 
offerings in a wooden box in charge of the deacon, 
if money or papers promising money ; if anything 
more bulky, then to one side ; ^ and, after doing this, 
passed another way back to their seats. ^ Then fol- 
lowed admission of members and hearing of com- 
plaints. If not too late, they sang a psalm, and then 
the pastor closed with a prayer and blessing. " Upon 
the week dayes, there are Lectures in divers townes, 
and in Boston, upon Thursdayes, when Master 
Cotton teacheth out of the Revelation." ^ 

As for the form of church government, " Every 
church hath power of government in, and by itselffe, 
and no church, or Officers, have power over one an- 

1 " I have seen a faire gilt cup with a cover, offered there by one, which is 
still used at the Communion." — Lechford's Plain Dealing, 15. This cup may 
still be among the valuable collection of church silver, and, if so, would rival 
in antiquity the famous Winthrop cup. 

- Until 17 10, and even later, careful attention was given to the seating of 
people in meeting, with reference to social or civil dignity. 

"* Winthrop's Journal gives the earliest notice of this lecture. 

2 



l8 FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON. [1630-32. 

other but by way of advice or counsaile, voluntarily 
given or besought, saving that the General Court, 
now and then, over-rule some church matters ; and of 
late, divers of the Ministerie have had set meetings 
to order church matters; whereby it is conceived 
they tend towards Presbyterian rule."^ 

The governing body of officers has already been 
alluded to, together with their proper functions. 
The church endeavored to rule as much as possible 
by unanimous consent. But where they could not 
agree, as, for example, on the admission or censure 
of a member, the matter was referred to a select 
council to hear and pass upon privately, or in pres- 
ence of such of the brethren as saw fit to attend. 
The rules of admission and expulsion were very 
strict, as instance the following, from the church 
records : — 

"The 17"* of 7*= 5"" Moneth (1636). Thomas Matsoii 
formerly received by Comunion of churches, but now as a 
member vpon y'' confession of his fayth & repentance & 
pfessed subjection to y'' Lord Jesus Christ according to y^ 
Covenant of the Gospell, was admitted. 

"The 24*'' of y' same 5^ Moneth Robert Parker o' brother 
whoe was Excomunicate y'- 6'of y*" 10"' Moneth (1635) for 
scandalous oppression of his wives children in selling away 

1 The first synod, or council of ministers and others, was held at Cam- 
bridge (then Newtown), the 30th of August^ 1637, and just escaped dealing 
with the famous Hutchinsonian controversy, which came up before the 
General Court two months later. John Cotton, the " patriarch of New Eng- 
land," at that time teacher of the church, attended with John Wilson, pastor, 
as messengers to the council. John Davenport, then of New Haven, after- 
wards of Boston Church, was also one of the twenty-five ministers summoned. 
See chap. ii. 



1630-32.] JOHN WILSON. 19 

their inheritance from y™ & other hard vsage both of her 
& y was this day vpon pfession of his repentance received 
againe to y" fellowship of ye Church." 

"The 29"' day of y'= 2'' Moneth 1638. Anne Walker y^ 
wife of one Richard Walker & sometime y" wife & widdowe 
of o' Brother Robert Houlton having before this day beene 
often privately Admonished of sundry Scandalls, as of 
Drunkenish, Intemperate, & vncleane or wantonish behav- 
iors, & likewise of Cruelty towards her children & also of 
manifold lyes & still to this day psisting impenitently 
therein, was therefore now w'*^ Joynt Consent of y" Con- 
gregation Cast out of y*" Church." 

"The 13"^ of y'^ 11'' Moneth (1638). Our brother 
Richard Wayte having purloyned out of buckskyn lether 
brought vnto him, soe much thereof as would make 3. 
mens gloves to y*" Scandall of sundry w"'out, as well as of 
his brethren, & also having beene by some of y" brethren 
dealt w"' all for it, did often deny & forsweare y" same, 
w^'out barkening to their Convincings according to y" Rule, 
or to y"" Church to w"*" it was brought, was therefore this day, 
w"' Joynt Consent of y*" Congregation Cast out of y" Church. 

" The 26"' day of y" same 9''* Moneth (1639) being a day 
oi Piibliqiie fast {ox our Congregation, our brother Mr 
Robert Keayne was Admonisht by o' Pasto' in y*" Name 
of y^ Church for selling his wares at excessive Rates, to y" 
Dishono' of Gods Name, y*" Offence of y^ Generall Co't, 
& y*" Publique Scandall of y" Cuntry." 

"The 8'" Day of y^ s^ i^' Moneth 1640. Also, o^ Sistar 
Temperance Sweete y" wife of one John Sweete was by C 
Pasto' (in y" Name of y° Lord & w"' y" Consent of y^ 
Church (taken by their silence) Admonisht for having 
received into house & given entertainm' vnto disorderly 
Company & ministring vnto y" wine & strong waters even 
vnto Drunkennesse & y' not w^'out some iniquity both in 
y° measure & pryce thereof." ^ 

1 Church Records, 8 et seq. 



20 FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON. [1630-32. 

Another instance is that of a gentlewoman who 
was excommunicated for saying : " A brother and 
others she feared, did conspire to arbitrate the price 
of Joyners work of a chamber too high, and endeav- 
oring to bring the same into Civill Cognizance, not 
proceeding to take two or three to convince the 
party, and so to tell the Church, (though the first 
told the party of it) and this without her husband." 

Still another instance is that of a good woman 
who was severely dealt with because she absented 
herself from meeting more than was thought proper. 
Her reason for doing so was, in brief, because she 
did not like the kind of preaching she heard. It 
mattered not which of the two powers, civil or 
ecclesiastical, first got jurisdiction. They both pro- 
ceeded to try the cause, pari or non pari passu. 
The views of church government and order, at first 
indeterminate, were, by the powerful influence of 
John Cotton and others, embodied in a platform 
or religious constitution, called the Cambridge Plat- 
form, afterwards tacitly adopted as authority in all 
questions relating to church government. The 
power of the church made itself felt in those days 
against all who refused to conform to the established 
church tenets. 

Any such offender was first admonished, and then, 
if he did not obey, was excommunicated, and there- 
after had no more rights than an Indian. It is 
curious to note how even the great John Cotton, 
leader of the church and expounder of religion, barely 



1630-32.] JOHN WILSON. 21 

escaped censure for the sympathy which he was sup- 
posed to have secretly entertained for the views of 
the famous Anne Hutchinson. If we seek for the 
causes of this antagonism, they will be found in the 
temper of the age. The disorder, of which Puritan 
intolerance was the exponent in New England, was 
prevalent all over Christendom. All the religious 
world was busy trying to separate the chaff from the 
wheat. In New England, baptized in freedom of 
religion, they had not yet wrought out the problem 
how to unite toleration with a vigorous defence of 
the truth. It was still the age of witchcraft as well 
as of reformation. As long as the spirit of the 
former was abroad in the land, so long must the 
intolerance of the latter remain. 

And yet, even in New England, allowance must 
be made for the peculiar kind of experiment that 
was set on foot. No scheme of the kind had ever 
before been attempted. " By charter from the Eng- 
lish crown, the land was theirs as against all other 
civilized people, and they had a right to choose 
according to their own rules the associates who 
should help them to occupy and govern it. Exer- 
cising this right, they determined that magistracy 
and citizenship should belong only to Christian men, 
ascertained to be such by the best test which they 
knew how to apply." ^ All who could not come up 
to their standard were excluded, and if any persisted 
in staying where they were not wanted, more effect- 

^ Dexter's Congregationalism, 420, note. 



22 FIRST CHURCH IN BOSTON. [1630-32. 

ive measures were tried. From this point of view 
the charge of intolerance perhaps could hardly be 
made out. 

As we look back on that early church in the 
wilderness, with its noble company of worshippers, 
we strive in vain to recall a like picture. The severe 
aspect of the structure called a meeting-house,^ rudely 
fashioned from clay and stone, and thatched from 
the weather, must have been in marked contrast 
with what its occupants had been accustomed to 
at home, and in only too sad keeping, with the 
stern lot they had encountered from the moment of 
setting foot on this virgin soil. 

And that goodly company of men and women 
gathered within its sacred walls ! Winthrop, Dudley, 
Humphrey, Vane, Endicott, are but a few of those 
most readily called to mind, whose presence filled 
this little sanctuary, and whose delight it was to sit 
and listen to John Cotton as he unfolded the Scrip- 
tures for their guidance and action. 

We, whose happy lot it is to enjoy the fruits of 
their hard labors, can form but a faint conception 
of the struggle it must have cost even these sturdy 
zealots, to abandon their old home with its precious 
memories and associations, all that they held most 
dear, and with a wilderness around them, set them- 
selves about a task full of nothing but anxieties and 
uncertainties. We lose sight of the great responsi- 

1 " Our fathers, from conscience, called their houses for worship ' meeting- 
houses.' " — Dexter's Congregationalism, 454. 



1630-32.] JOHN WILSON. 23 

bility they thereby incurred. Leaders in a vast en- 
terprise, with no rule of action to guide them, and 
a wilderness to tame before them. We call them 
over-zealous, over-iirm, narrow, and bigoted. This 
is the repelling side of their nature. Take a differ- 
ent view, and we shall find that these Puritan fathers 
were good and faithful men, " blameless and exem- 
plary in character and life," and founders of a godly 
commonwealth. " The household purity, the do- 
mestic fidelity, the family discipline, the industry, 
thrift, and steadily increasing prosperity," of the Bay 
Colony, are all the fruits of their influence. 

While we may be tempted to find fault with their 
ways and methods, let us not keep out of sight their 
true and noble natures. 



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